


Pepperoni, Peach Roses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Romance, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You're always asking something, whether you say the words or not.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pepperoni, Peach Roses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers with Retaliation.

Emily slowly got up from the couch when she heard the knock on her door. She lived in a secured building, people couldn’t just show up. She also had the ‘don’t come over without asking’ rule. Some people she adored, and some who didn’t want her to pretend she wasn’t there, frequently broke that rule. She wondered who it was tonight.

She hadn't been to work in three days. None of her teammates had been to see her though she had been in a near-fatal car accident. That wasn’t because they didn’t want to. Emily lied and told them she was recovering at her parents’ New York condo with her stepmother. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see them, she did; she just wasn’t sure about things lately.

She was tired of getting her ass kicked. She was tired of her teammates taking knocks as well. They’d all taken some hard knocks lately, and people they cared about were dead. Emily never imagined when she showed up at the BAU with her box and her hopes that it would come to this. She wasn’t sure how much longer any of them could keep doing it.

Sighing, she looked out of her peephole and saw Aaron Hotchner. He had a tendency to show up without calling more than anyone except her mother. Emily teetered between finding it endearing and infuriating. She opened the door, putting on a smile.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“A close friend once told me when life gives you the really hard knocks, extremely cheap beer helps.” He stepped over the threshold.

“Extremely cheap beer?” Emily raised an eyebrow.

“I thought Pabst Blue Ribbon.” He held up the six-pack.

“I gotta say that’s pretty damn cheap.”

“I also bought pepperoni and bacon pizza, and…” Hotch handed her the bouquet.

“You know I'm not a big flower person.” She said.

“Wow, I buy you a really gorgeous bouquet of roses and that’s your response.” Hotch moved into the kitchen, putting the pizza and beer on the table. “You cut me deep, Prentiss; seriously.”

“They’re beautiful.” She meant it. He bought her a dozen peach roses and though she wasn’t a flower girl, she could admit that. They were beautiful and probably expensive. Hotch shouldn’t have wasted his money. Guess he had a few extra bills in his pocket from the cheap ass beer. “How did you know I was here?”

“I cheated.”

“You called my stepmother.”

“No one else would’ve thought to do it.” he replied. “That’s why you didn’t involve Natalie in your plan to disappear. So when I called and asked if you headed to New York she said no.”

“She’s usually good at reading people trying to get info out of her.” Emily said. She was still holding on to the flowers.

“Natalie loves me.” Hotch shrugged.

She thought of saying something cheeky but Emily wasn’t really in the mood. She and Hotch had been going back and forth for too long. It was like a rocking boat; Emily was seasick. He came to her, after Milwaukee. When he came home to an empty house, Hotch knew his life was heading in a direction he had no kind of map for.

He needed help, support, and Emily was there. Friends quickly turned to friends with benefits. Friends with benefits became lovers and then a terrorist bomb blew Hotch up. He started to distant himself from Emily, came back after Cyrus beat her down, and then walked away again. He was hardly there when she dealt with the death of Matthew Benton. He wouldn’t let her help him through the George Foyet situation.

Once Foyet escaped and stabbed him, Emily knew they were as good as over. She also knew just how Hotch was going to justify it…he was protecting her. He knew Foyet was watching. If he saw they were involved, that Hotch cared for her, Emily’s life would be in danger. A part of her thought he was almost smug about the fact that he found a real reason, one that couldn’t be argued down, for pushing her away.

George Foyet was dead now. So was Haley Hotchner. Hotch and Emily were still teammates. They were not lovers; she didn’t even think they were friends.

In Lockport, New York, the newly reinstated Unit Chief barely looked up from his paperwork when he heard about her accident. JJ told her. She didn’t say it like that but she didn’t have to. It was Morgan who showed up at the hospital and Prentiss knew what that meant.

“What are you doing here, Hotch? I'm tired and I'm just trying to spend a few days resting before I have to go back and jump in with both feet. I don’t think I’d make good company tonight and I'm not in the mood to try.”

“I didn’t come to force socialization on you.” he said. “I just thought you might be hungry and in the mood for some beer. I figured you were probably just hiding out; I wanted to bring you something to help you do that.”

“Pabst Blue Ribbon.” Emily replied.

“Yeah.” he nodded, handing her one before putting the now five-pack in the fridge. Hotch went back and grabbed one for himself. “We’ll have a beer together and then I’ll get out of your hair.”

Emily nodded. She put her roses in a vase and then put them on the counter. Her Abyssinian George was standing on the other side looking up at them. He loved things he could knock over. She gave him the evil eye but it went ignored. Emily hoisted herself up on the counter, grimacing some.

“You're black and blue all over.” Hotch observed, cringing some.

“That’s what happens when you get into a serious car accident.”

She was wearing sleep shorts and a tank top; it was easy to see every bump, bruise, black and blue mark. Emily didn’t dress for company because she wasn’t expecting any. She hadn't even bothered with a bra. Being bound was still uncomfortable. Pretty much everything was still uncomfortable. Percoset were a girl’s best friends. Whoever thought it was diamonds had never been beat up before. They should probably consider themselves lucky.

“I guess I just…you jumped right back in. I knew you probably shouldn’t have but I guess I let myself believe you were alright. It was easier than…”

“Having to care?” She asked.

“I was not going to say that.” Hotch said.

“What are we drinking to?” Emily popped the top from the bottle. She didn’t even know Pabst came in a bottle. Shit, you _could_ learn something new everyday.

“Percoset being a girl’s best friend.”

“Cute.” She smirked, hating when he read her mind.

“Its true though isn’t it?”

Emily just rolled her eyes, hit her bottle on Hotch’s and took down a healthy sip. Pabst tasted like ass, it always had, but beer was beer. She probably shouldn’t have more than one or two dealing with her painkillers but it was a nice distraction. Doing nothing with George got boring on the second day.

“Are you hungry?” Hotch asked. “I could heat up some pizza; you can pop in a movie…”

She wanted to kick him out but couldn’t quite bring herself to. It wasn’t often that he even bothered to show up these days. It felt wrong though, to reward him for a half-ass performance. Emily gave so much of herself and Hotch gave very little. She couldn’t keep doing that as she lost the pieces of herself and lost him as well. Taking a deep breath, Emily knew she had to make a decision.

“It was nice of you to come over tonight, even uninvited. But I can't do this. I need time to relax and recover and just…I can't be on tonight, Aaron.”

“I wasn’t asking that of you.” he said.

“You're always asking something, whether you say the words or not.” Emily slipped down from the counter to the floor. “I appreciate the pizza, the beer, and the sentiment. I just wanna be alone right now.” she was lying but better alone now than later.

“OK.” Hotch took another sip of his beer and poured the rest down Emily’s drain. He was driving; it probably wasn’t a good idea to have the whole thing. “Don’t let George sneak any bacon; it gives him heartburn.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, walking with him to her door. “Don’t remind me.”

Hotch opened the door and looked out into the hallway. He wanted to stay, wanted to be with her, hold on and never let go. Maybe it was too late and that was really his fault. Emily had been so good to him, so good for him. He loved her, even when he didn’t want to, knew he shouldn’t, he did.

“Can I call you?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Emily nodded again.

“Can I take you to brunch?”

“I don't know…”

“C'mon, you're gonna turn down the neverending pancake plate?”

“It’s not fair to tempt me with pancakes.” She said.

“Pizza and beer didn’t work, Prentiss; I'm pulling out the big guns. Let me take you to brunch on Sunday before you go back to work. No pressure, just a meal.”

“I’ll call you.”

“I’ll call you.” Hotch said.

“OK. Thanks again for the pizza.”

“Goodnight.” It was time to go; she didn’t seem to be changing her mind. Not sure how she would take it, Hotch gave her a quick hug. It was soft, as she was still hurting, but he needed to put his arms around her. Emily gave him a quick kiss on the shoulder and moved out of his embrace.

“Drive safely, OK?” she put on a smile.

“Yeah.”

Emily watched him walk to the elevator. She always did when he left her condo. When the doors opened and Hotch stepped on, she closed her door. She leaned against it and willed herself not to cry about this. Life was life and tears meant next to nothing. Emily didn’t want to be on the roller coaster anymore.

She loved Hotch so much but knew she needed to love herself more. That was something she was just getting into and for all the slips, falls, bumps, and bruises, it was a great thing. Being someone’s sometimes wasn’t going to do it for Emily Prentiss anymore. It was hard to push away someone you loved; it was why she wasn’t as harsh as she may have wanted to be. But it was time for Hotch to prove himself…she’d been doing it for years with little result. If he wanted to share, he could take on that load.

Going into the living room, Emily grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table and pushed three. It rang three times before that bubbly voice answered.

“Hello daughter.”

“Hey Nat. I had a visitor tonight.”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to be keeping a secret.” She replied. “What's going on?”

“I have pizza and beer and I don’t want to be alone. Wanna have movie night?”

“I have _From the Terrace_ and your dad is still in Lisbon. Give me 45 minutes and I’ll be there.”

“Thanks. It might be one of those nights.” Emily told her.

“Its OK, we can handle it together. I’ll see you soon…love you.”

“Love you too, Nat.”

Emily hung up and went back to the kitchen for pizza. She probably should've told Natalie to bring beer. She so wasn’t drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon…at least Morgan would bring her some High Life when they were doing the good friends/cheap beer thing. There was a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge that would be good for tonight. She’d get tipsy, watch movies, weight pros, weigh cons; there was still plenty of night to salvage.

Jumping when she heard the vase fall over, Emily turned and looked at her cat. George was now perched on the counter almost succeeding at the not guilty look in his hazel eyes. It was OK for some things never to change, like his having to jump on the counters. Other things needed to be worked on, tweaked, or given up all together. Repeating things that weren't good for you didn’t go as well for humans as it did for cats.

***

  



End file.
